Woman Stunned By Response When Texting Dead Son's Phone

The Feed

Posted on October 04, 2016
by Deirdre Fogarty

Carol Adler was bereft when her 21-year-old son, Colorado State Patrol cadet Taylor Thyfault, was killed on duty.

Taylor was just two months into his training when he was hit by a car during a high-speed chase; according to reports, the Army vet had urged a truck driver to move out of the way just moments before impact, likely saving the man's life.

And now, in an interview with WCSH 6, Taylor's grieving mother has admitted that an unlikely coping mechanism has come in the form of a shock text from her son's phone.

"Every day, it hits me like a ton of bricks, when I can't text him," Ms Adler said. "We're just that close.

"Everything that happened in his life was in my life."

A few weeks after her son's tragic passing, Ms Adler began texting his phone once again, telling him how much she missed him and that she loved him; she says that even though she knew Taylor wouldn't be able to respond, the messages helped her feel close to him once again.

Unbeknownst to Ms Adler, however, Taylor's number had been reassigned - to a member of the Greeley Police Department, Sergeant Kell Hulsey.

After ignoring the first few texts, one late-night message prompted Sergeant Hulsey to reply, explaining: "I don't think your texts are going where you think they are."

But, even though the police officer immediately offered to change his number, Ms Adler asked him not to; working in law enforcement had always been a dream of Taylor's.

"[Taylor is] still trying to make a difference," Sergeant Hulsey said, and Ms Adler agrees.

"If you asked him, he'd do it again," she said of her son's brave final act. "He sacrificed himself, for someone else."